Gadgety News

Fancy an Android powered iPod Touch?

You know; something thin, with over four inches of touchscreen in a mini tablet form?

Well, here you are!

This is the Giinii Movit Mini.

It could actually almost be an iPhone challenger but it’s lacking the actual mobile phone bit, but it is Android so there’s VoIP to take care of that side of things….

…and don’t forget - that also means no tarrif and 18 month contract to deal with

The soft keyboard seems pretty good from what I can see with a decent layout and a size that real manly men can use.

Apparently the resistive touchscreen was a let down as it lacked responsiveness meaning that it was hard to push buttons and an effort to scroll more than once.

Saying that; we have to remember that it is still at the prototype stage and these are things that could be ironed out.

I think that this has a lot of promise and at the possible price of $149 it could be a winner.

If you’ve been less than impressed by the current downloads available on your Google G1 you may be relieved to hear that there’s a second wave a-coming.

Thing is, you’ll need to dip into your pocket to get them.
That’s right my Google Phone loving friends - paid apps are heading to Android and the UK and US are down as first countries to to get that app lovin.

According to Google’s Eric Chu, the Android market ‘will support priced applications starting early Q1 2009′ - so, anytime now then?

In theory the apps should kick up a level and mobile gamers should see some worthy things to buy as the likes of Gameloft and EA Mobile are said to be getting their wares ready for you to purchase.

Google is also bringing ‘localisation’ to the market, which in effect means country-specific apps.

I’m not overly sure what that means apart from perhaps weather reports, tube status and where the nearest Sausage & Mash shop is.

Pocket Gamer

Ah, Mr blurry cam strikes again!!

But as this seems to be the only set actually showing the Android OS running on OpenMoko hardware I can’t afford to be picky.

OpenMoko is set to announce the worldwide launch and pricing on the second ever Android-powered handset.

These pictures are of the Neo FreeRunner device running the Android Platform out in the wild - you’re just gonna have to take my word for that.

A little fuzzy, but it’s very likely that Neo FreeRunner will be the second Android Phone!

The phone features a 2.8-inch VGA touchscreen display, 400MHz Samsung 2442 processor, GSM, and GPRS connectivity as before, plus the usual built-in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and AGPS, among other standard fare.

On the memory front, it supports both microSD, SDHC as an expansion option for up to 16 GB of space.

Check out the blurry shots for yourselves below.

If and when I get better pics I’ll be sure to post them up

BoyGeniusReport

After hearing that T-Mobile have dropped the UK price of the G1 Google Phone the second Android phone has been announced in Australia and you can get hold of it in the UK too!

The Agora and Agora Pro will start shipping in January thus kitting out Aussies with Google’s OS.

The new Google Blower packs 3G, a 2.5 inch touchscreen and a QWERTY keypad.

The Agora will cost $299 and the Pro will cost $399. They’re essentially the same phone, although the Pro also packs Wi-Fi and a 2 megapixel camera.

The best news? They’re also being offered to international customers. The Kogan Agora will cost £152 with international shipping, while the Pro version will set you back £203.

Kogan

There’s official word from my roots back in Canada.

RIM’s Canadian HQ have confirmed that their Storm touchscreen handset will be hitting the United Kingdom within the first 7 days of November.

No word on tariffs but I reckon it’s safe to say that they would be competitive with the likes of the iPhone and the G1 Android.

I’m thinking unlimited downloads and an 18-month contract - these seem to have become de rigueur in the clever phone world.

More news as I get it

T-Mobile has finally announced that the official U.K release date will be the 30th October.

Pre-orders for the Google G1 have already notched up 25,000 in the U.K already!

It seems a global buzz is defying the predictions of some analysts.

The HTC manufactured handset is expected to notch up 600,000 sales by the end of the year, which will give the iPhone some stiff competition for the expectant busy Christmas period.

In the words of Harry Hill……..

FIGHT!!!!!

Google used its Developer Day event in London to show off a working Android phone and this was captured by YouTube user “scottlet”.

The mystery phone got the old “gaffer over the badge” treatment so no clues given as to the forthcoming handset’s branding - expected from T-Mobile/HTC very soon.
Watch the vid to see select areas of the new mobile operating system in action.

Anyhow, there can’t be long to wait now, if the rumours are to be believed.

Click To See Google Android Presentation

According to The Telegraph the HTC Dream Google Android handset will be arriving to this fair isle thanks to T-Mobile in November.

To my knowledge this is the first sign that we’ll be getting this much lauded handset in the UK.

The Telegraph has this to say:

Its arrival in Britain will mark the next phase of Google’s attempts to dominate new areas of the technology industry. Today is the 10th anniversary of its launch, since when it has grown into a $139bn behemoth that dominates the internet search industry.

Android has been designed to support a vast suite of new internet applications and aims to replicate Microsoft’s success with its Windows desktop software.

Have a goosey at the full news piece in The Telegraph.

By the way - happy 10th birthday Googs!!

Those people over at Phone Report have listed all the specs of the upcoming HTC Dream and even popped their own comments afterwards.

They also seem to have got artist Neo Carlo Magno, from Neoworxspace to work on a ‘perhaps this is what it will look like’ rendering - looks kinda tasty if you ask me

Here are the highlights but for the full dirt go right over to Phone Report

Ok, so in no particular order……….

• 64MB Internal RAM - Only?
• 128MB Internal ROM - Also very low
• 1GB MicroSD card - Very low
• 5 Row QWERTY keypad - We’ll see how that works
• Trackball - Nice
• Dedicated camera button - Needed
• 3.1MP camera (no flash) 2048 x 1536 - Not a breakthrough camera
• Video playback files - H.264, streaming, 3GPP, MPEG4, and Codec 3GP - It better have that
• Audio playback files - MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA, MPEG4, WAV, MIDI, REAL AUDIO, OGG - Nice
• HTTP, WAP Push, xHTML - the usual
• SMS and MMS support (Take that Apple!) - needed
• POP, IMAP, and SMTP, AOL, and GMAIL email - needed
• 3G - which bands?
• 802.11b & 802.11g - nice
• UMTS (1,4), HSDPA, SUPL  - WiFi?
• Screen size is 3.17? with HVGA (480  x 320) - nice
• Handset 117 x 55 x 16mm - we’ll see
• Downloadable content via Android Marketplace - nice
• Google Streetview with built-in compass - well done, where’s the GPS?

We’ve heard the reports that an Andoid handset will be out somewhere between now and next year.

The latest rumors have the HTC Dream (codenamed “G1″) going on presale for existing T-Mobile customers starting September 17th.

 The know-it-alls over at TmoNews say they have some trusted sources who have priced the handset at $399, or $150 for existing customers during the presale which will only last one week.

A public launch, and availability for those who aren’t current T-Mobile customers may not happen until the following month.

The newest leaked features include a 3-megapixel camera, slide-out QWERTY keypad and three colour varieties: black, white and brown (?).

Keep coming back for more info as I get it

Accoding to HTC’s chief financial officer, Hui-ming Cheng, the company is on track to launch Android-based handsets before the end of 2008!

Cheng has been quoted as saying the first Android phones from HTC are due to ship to “ODM” (that’s original design manufacturer according to Wikipedia) clients in the fourth quarter of this year.

Which ODM client/s is question upon most people’s lips.

HTC currently creates its own branded handsets for T-Mobile - who, interestingly, is a member of the Open Handset Alliance.

T-Mobile also has confirmed the launch an Android handset by the end of the year - could these be the same handset that we’re talking about?

It’s predicted that HTC will beat other manufacturers to market with an Android phone, as the company were given a several month headstart with access to the OS thanks to their role as the manufacturer of the HTC “Dream” Android prototype…..

Keep coming back for more info ;0,

It went all quiet for a while in the Google Phone camp.

But that could all change thanks to a report in TechCrunch.

They seem to think, and they do know their stuff, that an Android phone made by Google may actually become a reality based on two new bits of information: 

1.  
   1. A quote in The Hollywood Reporter from a press conference with Larry Page, Sergei Brin and CEO Eric Schmidt. This report has been stamped as inaccurate since by Silicon Alley Insider and they note that none of the other major news orgs there picked it up. The reporter also noted that “The trio of Google execs also used the opportunity to talk about the inroads the company is making with its own branded mobile phone as a replacement for the iPhone.” [That appears to be a mixup by the reporter, with Sergey and Larry actually talking about not producing their own phone, according to Reuters’s Ken Li’s notes in SAI. 
   2. A source close to TechCrunch “swears” that the Ammunintion Design Group “is designing the Gphone and that it is a seriously beautiful device.” They’ve worked with companies like Palm, Hewlett-Packard, Dell Computer, and Logitech in the past (the phone pictured is one that they designed for Sprint). Not exactly a confirmation but TechCrunch usually have pretty reliable sources.

 

Do you think that a Gphone is on the horizon?

This is all that I can find so far - if you know anymore about this please drop me a line.

RKS, from Southern California, are loving Google’s Android so much that they’ve gone and built a phone around it and called it Mimique.

The colouful contraption concept is said to combine the design of the Treo with the iPhone’s touch surface.

Personally I’m not sure of it’s body-shape but like the look of the screen………could it be a case of nice face shame about………or is just me that remembers when mobiles lost their external ariels to much rejoycing?

Pocket Lint

Kokoro Dreams, you know- they made the Actroid Der 2 Fembot, are back with another droid.

She’s called ’Phorone’, stands 175 cms tall and is a secretary.

Granted, a secretary on an anime show aired on Nippon network.

Phorone is powered by pressurised air and is able to deliver human like expressions and can even talk!

Unfortunately, as with the Actroid, there are no plans of putting up the Phorone for rent or mass production………………yet.

Newlaunches

If you’re in the market for a gadget learning help-bot then Toshiba in Japan may have the very thing for you.

They’re in the process of putting together a talking bot that can be used as a voice-activated universal remote.

The android, called ApriPoko, stands at just under a foot tall and is capable of learning how to control electronics by watching you and asking questions about your behavior.

~Here comes the scary bit~

When you use an infrared device, the robot will sense the signal and ask you “What did you just do?” If you say something like “I turned on the TV,” it will remember this and next time round you’ll be able operate that function by asking the friendly mite; he will then raise an arm and carry out your request via its IR mittens!!

The little fella is still in the R&D stages bless him, but there are plans to turn this technology into a real thing to buy, teach and nurture………………..

Pink Tentacle

Gizmodo have got a bit of an exclusive it seems.

This is apparently the first shot of a prototype Google Android out “in the wild” and if it is it could be quite a scoop.

It seems to be pretty close to the “spy shots” that have graced many a website and blog over the past few months and looks to be kinda like a HTC handset.

 It is said that someone who has test-driven this handset for a day posted  to Gizmodo saying:

Even in early form, it’s light and fast, much faster than the desktop emulator at times.

Also the tester said that it was a lot more better put together than Windows Mobile 5 at the backend.

We will have to wait and see - all to often people get this type of thing fed as a bit of publicity, to check that people are still interested or just a great mock-up. I know, I’m getting more cynical as I get older!

The software development kit for Google’s Android platform for mobile phones is available today for download here. The company also announced around £5 million in prizes for the best applications developed for the operating system.

Take a look at Google’s video and you may notice that it is not dissimilar to the iPhone in look but the software should work on most handsets so no need to pay almost £300 to get hardware to run it.

Tasty!